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Space Frenzy
General playing tips *Shoot at least one piece out of every enemy ship group that's forming, as that will increase your score (shooting one or more enemy ship pieces will bring you more points, rather than just shooting one incomplete or completed cruiser), along with keeping completed cruisers at bay that will start shooting at you (as well as incomplete cruisers that will start chasing you). However, you will not be able to do this forever, once the game/ship pieces start moving faster and faster. *Once the game starts speeding up, when ship pieces appear and you are not able to shoot one immediately, pause and try to be able to determine when they will start moving so you can be sure to destroy at least one ship piece per group so they do not form complete cruisers; fire several shots in front of a ship piece in hopes that it will start moving and run into a shot and be destroyed. *Also -- even though you will be tempted to do it a lot, no doubt -- try not to constantly fire to the point where you're out of shots and can't defend yourself once a ship or cruiser is headed your way; if you're out of shots and don't move in time, you could end up being destroyed by an enemy collision. *Try to shoot in one direction as much as possible, as it will cut down on thrusting, yet take care of many ship pieces/cruisers at the same time, as targets in any given situation could include partial, complete cruisers, or just flat-out pieces that could be starting to join together. *When you thrust around due to avoiding enemies, be sparse and careful about it, as in no time flat your ship could possibly collide with an enemy ship piece or cruiser (as the Vectrex's screen is a bit small, increasing your chances of running into something as well that you might not be able to see, plus your ship's thrust is fairly strong). Also try to fly around in tight little circles around enemy ships, due to keeping in tune with the tips of not thrusting much and with shooting in the same general direction for as much as possible, which results in taking out enemy ships before they form dangerous complete cruisers (and plus shooting ship pieces also helps with your score), plus you don't want to be too far out of firing range with enemy ships as well. *As the enemy ship pieces tend to go offscreen, try to remember in what spot(s)/directions the pieces were forming/heading so you can try to take out one or more of them per group. Also try to do this when pieces are on the opposite sides of the screen, yet you can still shoot them (i. e. you're at the bottom and ship pieces are forming at some point along the top, which you can shoot at the bottom that way's easier and closer and try to have your shots wrap around from the bottom to the top of the screen in hopes of hitting one or more of those pieces before they turn into cruisers). *Also in regards to screen edges, try to stay away from them as much as possible, since, again, with ship pieces going offscreen, sometimes you can lose track as to where they are and what direction they are headed (especially when things start speeding up), resulting in collisions/losing reserve ships in the process. *Most of the time you're not going to want to shoot straight at an enemy ship or fireball (although this is covered in more detail in the next section in regards to docking/gaining extra firepower). *And also on a similar note, if there's a fireball that is shot at you near the end of a wave/there aren't many enemies left and you're trying for the best score possible (as they're the second highest-scoring target period), then shoot it from an angle, and NOT straight on, as you might not hit it, you'll have less time to turn and thrust away from it if you find yourself missing it, and because if you lose a ship, you'll have to start the current wave entirely over (if you have any ships left in reserve). *Also DON'T take for granted when you're down to the last two (or even one) enemy ships left at the end of a wave! If a ship is coming towards you and you're firing but missing the ship, then turn and thrust away from it, then turn and resume shooting at the ship when you're at a safe distance from it. Because aside from getting your butt kicked during a game, there's nothing worse than having to start a wave over when the screen's almost totally devoid of enemies, yet you lost a reserve (or possibly your last) ship when there was only one or two enemy cruisers left! *Also remember your ship/a reserve ship when it first appears at the start of a new wave will face in the direction it was in last, so be prepared to quickly turn your ship to face in a direction that will suit you best (i. e. if you're using the ship on the right side after docking with it, you should face sideways as much as possible to aim as many shots as possible towards enemies; after docking with the top ship, face away from enemies, as more shots will come out from the back of your ship, rather than from the front, etc.). *Spend most of your time in general at the center of the screen; enemies can be harder to see and give you less time to react to them if you're near a screen edge, whether it be the top, bottom, or one of the sides of the screen. Docking/extra ships *When docking with a new ship, if you're barely off when attempting to dock with a new ship, you could pass right through it. It is imperative that you dock with a ship, so don't worry about whatever bonus points you're not going to get for taking too long to dock. Turn around, thrust to the point where you seem to be right in a straight line/path with a ship, then try thrusting into it again. You should also turn straight left and right for those ships, making sure you're lined up perfectly with them, THEN start thrusting, which you should have no problem docking with them then. *Unless you have a different preference, the order you should use when docking with ships is to dock with the right ship first, then the top one, saving the most powerful one -- the left one -- for last. (If you have a different preference though, then change this order around as to whatever you feel is best for you.) *Also keep in mind what ship is next as the docking screen comes up, as that way you will get the most amount of bonus points possible (if you're aiming for a decent score) by not wasting time and docking as quickly as possible. And especially remember when it's time to dock with the ship above you, as you can just hold down the thrust button the moment it tells you to prepare for docking, which you can dock with that ship as quickly as possible (having only one digit tick off from the timer) for the maximum bonus possible. *Use extra ship firepower CORRECTLY: as it was mentioned in the first section, most of the time you're not going to want to shoot straight at an enemy ship or fireball, as you'll want to make a quick thrust escape from one or more enemies when needed. In other words, after choosing the ship on the right side of the screen, you should fire at enemies sideways, which will enable you a quick escape, since you shouldn't have to turn your ship much for the most part to thrust away from them (plus your greatest firepower shoots from the sides, rather than from the front or back of your ship). With the top ship, you need to get used to firing at enemies that are behind you, since your ship fires two shots at once in the rear direction. (You also need to quickly thrust away if an enemy is coming up behind you, yet you can't shoot it, as their ships can be small enough to fit in between your rain of bullets. So also turning your ship a little to the side can also increase the chances of hitting your enemy then.) Finally, the ship at the left only fires in front, which, due to possible collision detection problems with the game, doesn't always guarantee that you'll be able to destroy a fireball even when you've got several rows of bullets being fired at once at it. As it was mentioned in the first section, thrust away and take these out from another angle, rather than head on. *And finally, if you get to point in the game that you've never been able to get past that point/you can't do much better, you might want to skip the worst ship/one you like the least and use the better ones when docking. Might as well make it easier on yourself! Category: Playing tips Category: Vectrex Games